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Tag: Latin America

Toward the end of the 2008 global economic crisis, the consensus was that developed economies would recover just as quickly as they did in past recessions. It was also expected that emerging market economies would continue acting as the world growth locomotive for a relatively long time. Until mid-2011, this perspective appeared to be in the process of materializing. By now, however, this scenario differs significantly from reality.

The results of Sunday’s runoff election in Brazil open a new chapter in the country’s fight against deforestation. Dilma Rousseff will have to overcome skepticism that she’s the right woman for the job, in light of perceptions that she privileged development at the expense of conservation during her first term as president.

By and large, citizens of wealthier countries have more access to financial services than citizens of poorer countries. In the Republic of the Congo, for instance, only 9 percent of adults have access to formal financial institutions. In high-income countries, that share is 90 percent, according to World Bank calculations.

My guest on this Wonkcast is CGD senior fellow Liliana Rojas Suarez, who serves as chair of the Latin American Shadow Financial Regulatory Committee (CLAAF). CLAAF is comprised of financial economists and former senior financial officials from the region who meet twice a year to study a current policy issue. They then issue a statement offering advice to policymakers in the region and others interested in Latin American financial regulatory issues—or just in the region’s overall economic health.

China has had a stellar growth performance over the past two decades, growing at record rates of around 10 percent. But high growth has come along with a series on imbalances, notably overinvestment in the real estate sector and huge increase in domestic credit, all of which has caused China’s growth projections to moderate.

Many governments try to reduce poverty and inequality through a mixture of taxes, transfers, and public services. Individual policies, such as taxation or cash transfers, are frequently evaluated on how well they address these goals. But the overall impact of a country’s fiscal policy package on poverty and inequality has rarely been subject to systematic analysis—until now.